Teen Titans: Hunted
by ParzivalHallows
Summary: From that moment on, all meta-humans were to be reported and arrested, never to be seen again in the public eye. If they were dead or tortured for their crimes, the people didn't care. It was just one less problem to worry about in the petty lives of the citizens. Nobody gave thought to the fact that perhaps the meta-humans were innocent. AU


_Nobody was prepared for the invasion. _

_There were so many casualties, it was almost impossible to count them. The estimated guess was around 20,000 citizens. About 99% of those casualties were innocents that had managed to get themselves caught in the crossfire._

_The real war had nothing to do with those poor innocent people, and their deaths didn't linger long in the twisted minds of the soldiers. What the soldiers had been after was anybody's guess, until one day the President of the United States appeared on every television screen across the country. Very few didn't bother themselves with watching the president, but the many who did, were suddenly on the soldiers' side. _

_The soldiers, as previously believed, were not the ones who had caused the destruction. Rather, it was the beings that they had been hunting down to protect the American citizens. Very dangerous beings that they called "meta-humans". _

_These meta-humans were dangerous, and not a single one of them could be trusted. Why, one of them had the ability to manipulate the emotions of people! How easily she could twist their minds into thinking she was a good person, only to crush them for her sick pleasure. _

_There were a few that fought for these meta-humans, who thought their destruction was uncalled for, but they too had been manipulated. Soon enough, the government promised, they would see the meta-humans for what they were. Freaks, lethal, ferocious, terrifying, nothing good. They weren't heroes like Spiderman or Superman; they were enemies of the republic, destroyers of worlds, worse than terrorists. They killed for pleasure, not for war or a matter of religion, they fought only because they wanted to. These beings were spawns of the devil himself, perhaps worse! _

_Hell had indeed been unleashed on earth, and it came in the form of the meta-humans._

_From that moment on, all meta-humans were to be reported and arrested, never to be seen again in the public eye. If they were dead or tortured for their crimes, the people didn't care. It was just one less problem to worry about in the petty lives of the citizens. Nobody gave thought to the fact that perhaps the meta-humans were innocent, and that they had not been the ones that caused the destruction. _

_Only some believed. _

_Those that believed were captured along with the meta-humans._

_Any person believed to be harboring a meta-human, or protecting them, would be taken in along with the meta-humans. Assured safety would come to them, once they learned how disgusting the meta-humans truly were. _

_How horrible their powers could be, and how dangerous the meta-humans could be. _

That was how Kory, the beautiful model of Jump City, had been found. Her father, in desperation, had sold his only remaining daughter to the hands of the government, in hopes that they would be able to cure her of her "sickness".

Poor Kory hadn't done anything, but she could understand why her parents would so willingly give her up. They wanted to protect their younger son, hopefully he wouldn't grow up to be a meta-human as Kory did. The soldiers were a suspicious bunch, and promised that if Kory couldn't be cured within a year, they would check upon the youngest and see if he held the cure.

How her parents and brother had cried as the soldiers pulled a struggling red-headed, golden-skin, green-eyed beauty from her home. She screamed as they threw her into the back of a white van, which on the side read, "Pinehearst". She screamed for her parents and brother, she even screamed for her dead sister. The soldiers paid her no mind though, not a single one of them looked at her with pity, instead their eyes narrowed dangerously.

"If she doesn't shut up," one of them growled to the soldier next to him, "I'll kill the freak myself."

"Do you know how much trouble we'd get in?" the other hissed, glaring at Kory.

"We could say we caught her running away!"

"Forget it," the other sighed, "we can't kill her."

Disgruntled, the two soldiers made their way into the front of the vehicle, while a new one cuffed her hands together. Kory looked up at him, her green eyes pleading, but the soldier avoided her gaze.

Kory winced as the soldier tightened the cuffs, and stared as he glanced around, as though making sure nobody were watching them. He looked up at her finally, his face kind. "Use your powers, get out of here."

"What?" Kory wasn't sure if she was hearing him right. He wanted her to escape?

"Just trust me, use your powers against me, once you get far enough I'll yell out, but at least you'll have a head start."

Kory stared at him, her eyes wide. "Y-You want me to escape?"

"Yes! Now hurry before they start the van!"

Taking a deep breath, Kory closed her eyes and prepared to use her starbolts.

What she hadn't been expecting, however, was for electricity to shoot through her whole body, causing her to fall to the ground in spasms. She couldn't think straight – it wasn't pain, it was worse. She couldn't breathe, no matter how hard she tried to. Her heart beat wildly and she tried flailing, but she wasn't in control of her body. Her mind was haywire, trying to wake her up from this seizure, but no matter how hard she tried, her body and mind ignored her silent pleas.

What felt like a million years later, she managed to catch her breath, feeling her chest rising and falling, unlike before when there had been no air at all. Everything was spinning, and her head felt as though somebody was squeezing it through a rubber tube, but she somehow managed to pull herself onto her elbows. She stared at the soldier, seeing him but not really seeing him. He was grinning at her, a glint in his eye that told her he'd been waiting for that to happen all along.

She meant to say "_You tricked me!" _but what came out was a thick, slurred "Yooouu t-tt-ick-ed, m-meeee." Her tongue caught in her throat, and if she was any less disoriented, she would have winced. Instead, what came out, was a laugh. The soldier raised an eyebrow, which just made her laugh more. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered if she had turned insane. That thought made her laugh harder, until finally the soldier walked away and shut the doors of the van. It took only a few moments for her to stop laughing, while at the same time the disorientation faded. She could see properly, but when she lifted herself up into a sitting position, her head felt like it would explode. She winced and went to rub it, but for the first time she remembered her hands were shackled.

She stared at the thick metal covering her wrists, and gasped in surprise as a green bolt shot across it. The same color as her starbolts.

Feeling sick to her stomach, she realized that as long as she was wearing these, she'd never be able to use her powers.

She was useless, totally at the mercy of the soldiers. Of Pinehearst.

…

Dick Grayson watched, eyes wide, as they ripped a sobbing girl from her home. She couldn't be older than seventeen, the same age that he was. Her screams rang through his ears, even after she fell to the ground in convulsions. He felt bile stir in his gut as her eyes rolled to the back of her head, the convulsions getting worse and worse until finally she stopped moving. For one heartstopping moment, Dick thought that she might be dead, but his fears were diminished as she bravely pulled herself up slightly. Her face was blank, and her eyes were aimed at the ground, but her face was angled to the soldier as though she was seeing him perfectly. Even before she opened her mouth Dick knew that the girl wouldn't be able to speak right. After a seizure like that, he was surprised she had even been able to get up. He frowned as she started laughing, seemingly unable to stop. It wasn't hysterical laughter though, she was acting as though someone had just told her a very funny joke, rather than the panicky laughter he'd been expecting.

The soldier appeared just as confused as she was, before he shook his head and shut the doors to the van. Dick knew that this was his time to act – if he were to save this girl – and he _would – _he needed to get her away from the soldiers. The government wasn't going to get any more innocent beings, meta-humans or not. With tremendous silence, he raced gracefully towards the van that the girl was being kept in. He halted as he reached the back of the van – the soldiers had cleared out by then – but a thought had suddenly struck him.

Opening the back doors to a van wasn't exactly quiet, and he couldn't risk a soldier finding him trying to help a meta-human. He thought about what his adoptive father, Bruce Wayne, would say to him. He almost winced as he thought of the loud lecture and slap on the back of the head he'd get.

But Dick wasn't a kid anymore! Of course, Dick had made some rather reckless mistakes in the past under the wing of Bruce, but for a few years now Bruce had been extremely protective of Dick. Why? Because Dick had been shot, nothing too serious, but to Bruce it meant a lot. Dick was thankful for his protection, but after a few months of being recovered it was rather annoying. Having Bruce hovering over him while he was trying to text a girl wasn't exactly thrilling for the teenage boy. As Dick aged Bruce had stopped hovering over him and following him around, but whenever Dick went to leave the house Bruce suddenly sprang into action with a "Where are you going, who will you be with, when will you be back, do you need me to drive you or pick you up?"

Dick blinked as he realized that when he got home, Bruce would probably build a safehouse and lock him inside with rations as though the world were about to end. Okay, maybe not that bad, but being stuck in his room all day and night would probably feel the same way.

As he mulled through his thoughts, trying to figure out a way to open the door without alerting the soldiers, one of them snuck behind him in the undergrowth along the side. Dick was rubbing his chin, unaware of the danger. He went to touch the doors of the van -

As soon as he did, the soldier sprang into action. He didn't bother keeping his voice down as he yelled out "One of them!" and tackled Dick to the ground. Dick struggled, trying to squirm from the soldier's grasp, but the soldier had him pinned with a tight grip on his arms. There was wild panic in Dick's blue eyes – he was starting to wish he'd never become involved in helping these meta-humans.

It was too late now though.

"So, you trying to help your pretty little friend here?" the soldier snarled, as more appeared behind him. "How about you just join her?"

Dick struggled some more, and the soldier laughed. "Help me get him up and into the van."

"No, get off me!" he growled as they took him from the soldier's hands, manhandling him into the van. "Get off! Let me go!"

"No can do, kid. It's your own fault you're in this mess."

He barely noticed as they shackled him up and threw him next to the girl. She gasped and knelt down next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. As the van doors closed he turned to face her for the first time, she was even prettier up close.

"Are you okay?" she asked him, glad that her voice had returned to normal. She still had a bad headache; throbbing through her whole head. "Did they hurt you?"

"I'm fine," Dick said, brushing her shoulder off. "I just can't believe I was stupid enough to let myself get caught! Oh, Bruce is going to kill me…"

The girl looked at him, obviously not knowing what Bruce he was talking about.

"So… what is your name? Mine is Kory Anders," she added. Dick sat down next to her, "my name is Richard Grayson. Call me Dick though."

A hand flew to Kory's mouth, and her eyes widened as she recognized the name. "You mean – you're Bruce Wayne's kid?! That millionaire?"

Dick sighed. That was everyone's first reaction. "The one and only."

Kory was suddenly thankful for the dark van as blush took over her cheeks. "Oh… it's nice to meet you. I just wish it was under better circumstances…"

"Yeah, me too," Dick sighed. "Guess you can't always get what you want though."

"Guess not," Kory agreed, her eyes downcast. She was already missing her parents and little brother, and the van hadn't even started yet! She glanced at the dark-haired boy, an odd feeling in her chest. Perhaps she wouldn't be alone after all, she had someone to talk to. That is…

"I'm sorry if I got you into this," she murmured. Dick looked up at her, slightly surprised, "it's not your fault, Kory. I'm the one to blame for me being here… I just can't stand what they're doing!" he blurted out. "How they're hurting meta-humans, it's not your fault that you have these powers…" he gave her a sidelong glance. "So… what can you do? If you don't mind me asking," he added hastily.

"I don't mind," Kory assured him. "Since I was young I've always felt different. I was about five when I first learned how to fly," she smiled slightly at the shocked look on Dick's face. "That was only the beginning of it. I hid it from my parents and little brother, not knowing how they'd react. When I was thirteen I learned how to shoot beams of light from my hands – starbolts."

"How… how do you do it?" Dick asked in amazement. Kory tilted her head to the side, thinking. "It's hard to explain," she started, brushing away a piece of red hair that had fallen in front of her eyes. "When flying, I need to _feel _the wonder of flight, and embrace it. To use my starbolts, I have to feel a kind of righteous fury."

"Righteous fury?" asked Dick, one eyebrow raised.

"My powers won't work if I'm just angry, I need to be correct in my anger. For example, I can't shoot my starbolts when I get yelled at for forgetting my homework at teachers," she joked, and Dick chortled. "I need a good reason for using them. Just back there… when the soldier told me… the righteousness welled up inside of me, I was saving not only myself but hoping to protect my loved ones." Her voice had dropped to a whisper, and Dick placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "I'll be with you," he said, and she had to blink back tears. "You won't be alone."

"Thank you," Kory whispered, jumping when the engines came to life in the van. She started to shake uncontrollably, and Dick placed a comforting hand on hers, ignoring the shackles. He could hear the cackle of a transmitting radio from the front seat, and a soldier talking into it, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. Kory had rested her head on his shoulder, silent sobs taking hold of her body. Neither of them knew where they were being taken to, or what would happen to them when they got there.

…

"Please –"

"No, you betrayed me!" the one shouting was a young boy of sixteen. He was handsome, but his whole body was green, along with his slightly wavy hair and eyes. Those green eyes were currently narrowed, whether fighting back tears or holding back anger, his adoptive parents couldn't be sure.

"We only want to make you better!" the female exclaimed, tears forming in her eyes. "Honey we wouldn't do anything to hurt you –"

"Do you know what they'll do to me?!" the boy demanded, glaring at her. "You don't have any right to even _talk _to me Rita!"

At this Rita burst out into full blown sobs, and the larger man stepped forward, glaring at his adopted son. "Garfield Logan I –"

"You're no better Steve, just leave me alone!" Garfield Logan yelled, storming past Steve and Rita and up the stairs. "When they come to torture and kill me, tell them that I'm up in my room!"

Rita cried even harder, throwing herself onto Steve, who held her in his arms, stroking her brown hair. "Steve what if he's right? I've heard about those people being tor –"

"He's wrong, Rita," said Steve firmly, tightening his grip on her and holding her firmly to his chest, where she cried, "they're going to help him, they'll make a cure for him. That's what we've all wanted for a long time. Gar knows it, he is just scared and acting out. I promise he'll be safe."

Almost exactly as he finished saying this, there was a pounding on the door that made Rita jump. "What was that?" she whispered, staring at the door.

"Open up," came a man's voice, "we're with Pinehearst!"

Rita hurriedly wiped away her tears as Steve ran to the door to open it. The man at the door gave him a suspicious look, "Garfield Logan?"

"No, I'm his father. I called for you to help him."

The man nodded, "You're doing the right thing, sir. Where is your son?"

"Upstairs," said Rita, appearing next to her husband. "I can go and get him if you –"

"No need to worry ma'am, we'll get him ourselves. Come on boys!" Steve stepped back in shock as the man along with at least ten others, armed and ready, came racing into the house and up the stairs where a shaking Garfield Logan was waiting. He curled up into a ball, trying to hide his face as the soldiers burst into his (rather messy) room. He tried to ignore the fact that he was shaking, and the thought of changing didn't even occur to him. His mind was too wrapped up in 'whys' and 'whats going to happen to me?''s. "Please, don't," he managed to get out as the soldier roughly yanked him to his feet. "I want to stay here!" he yelled, wincing as the grip on his arm tightened. That was definitely going to leave a bruise."You're hurting me, let me go!"

"Don't hurt him!" he heard Rita shouting, but the soldiers ignored her as they roughly carried Garfield out of the house and into a large van. Garfield was struggling his hardest, trying to worm out of their grasp, knowing that changing his form would be of no use. They would shoot him as soon as he slipped from their grasp. "Let me go!" he growled, kicking out his legs, succeeding in kicking a soldier in the shin. Any amount of pleasure Garfield felt at this was quickly wiped away as a punch was delivered to his stomach, forcing him to keel over, held up only by the soldiers with their death grip on his arms. "Let… me… go…" he panted out in one last futile attempt, but he was ignored (yet again), and they shackled him rather painfully before throwing him into the back of the van.

…

Kory and Dick were sitting next to each other. The van had been stopped for at least ten minutes now, but neither of them made any move to attempt to leave the van. They could hear the commotion of soldiers outside, and then finally a loud yell. _"Let me go!"_

Kory and Dick exchanged worried looks, eyes wide, both of them knowing what was happening without having to say anything. _Someone else is going to be joining us…_

They heard a solder yell out as if in pain, and then the sound of flesh hitting flesh. Dick winced, knowing what had just happened. The yelling had stopped, but the meta-human was breathing roughly, and made one last attempt to bid for his freedom. Dick knew that it was no use, the soldiers were ruthless, they didn't care about them. The door of the back of the van was opened. Dick and Kory only had time to see a few trees and soldiers, before a boy was thrown onto the floor of the van at their feet. Dick crawled over to the boy, who was groaning. "Hey," he said, once the van doors shut again. "You okay?"

"No, I'm not," the boy snapped, getting up, then sighed when he saw the looks on their faces. "Sorry," he said, "I just… haven't had the best day. I'm okay," he said finally, giving the two of them a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "So, I'm guessing the two of you are meta-humans as well?"

"She is," Dick said quickly, "I'm not."

"Ah," said the green boy knowingly, nodding his head up and down. "You're a sympathizer."

"That's one way of putting it," said Dick with a sigh. "What's your name?"

"Garfield Logan, but just call me Gar," said Garfield. "Or Logan. I don't care which."

"I'm Kory Anders," said Kory gently, "and this is Dick Grayson."

"No way!"

Dick almost sighed, he'd been hoping Kory wouldn't say his last name. It seemed like he had a few superfans.

"Dude, I've been following you for ages!"

"Following me?" Dick frowned and rose an eyebrow at the now excited boy.

"Yeah dude! I know who you – I mean, uh," Garfield threw a startled glance at Kory, who tilted her head in a confused manner. "Who he what?"

"Nothing, it's nothing," said Garfield quickly, turning away from them. He'd found out a long time ago the true identities of Bruce Wayne and his adoptive son slash sidekick Richard Grayson. It was so obvious, he was stunned that more people hadn't figured out who they were – Batman and Robin. Neither of which had superpowers, but that didn't mean he didn't idolize them.

Dick was still frowning, wondering what Garfield had been about to say. Could he…? No, that was stupid to even think about. Nobody suspected the two wealthiest people in Gotham to be Batman and Robin. He was jumping to conclusions.

"So, what can you do?" Dick asked quickly, hoping to change the subject. A small grin appeared on Garfield's face. "I can turn into animals."

"Any animal?" asked Kory in amazement, looking absolutely stunned when he nodded impressively. "Yeah, well, I hate to brag but –"

Dick rolled his eyes as Garfield put on a rather charming front – and it was working. Kory was looking at him with rapt attention, her face positively glowing. Garfield only stopped talking when the van started moving, then he sobered immediately. "I wonder where we're going…"

It was the question on all of their minds. Dick glanced around at all of them, his face closed off. "I don't know, but I doubt it's anywhere good."

…

Victor Stone had never run so fast in his life. His heart was racing – he'd heard about the whole meta-human thing, but did they really consider a cyborg to be a meta-human? He clenched his fists and ran even faster if it was possible as he heard the sirens from behind him. He was running so fast that he barreled straight into a large tree, knocking it straight over. He, however, barely felt anything. He heard loud exclamations, no doubt people had just seen that, but continued onwards.

"We order you to stop!" came a loud, magnified voice. "Over my dead body!" he screamed back, though he wasn't sure where the voice was coming from, and kept running. "Stop or we'll shoot!"

Would they really? Victor really didn't want to find out, but he couldn't just let them take him! He told his dad he'd be home by dinner (for once) to talk things over, and then _this _happens? Apparently they weren't playing around, because the ground in front of him suddenly spiked up as gunshots blasted into it, stopping Victor in his tracks. There were a few more shots, with Victor covering his head protectively, then the sound died down and he dared to look up. He was completely surrounded, there was no point in running anymore. "Don't think of anything funny boy," growled a man who had apparently managed to sneak up behind him. "Or we'll take you down quicker then you can say 'stop'."

Victor glared at him, but even he knew when a battle was lost. It took four men to put shackles on his arms – and that was even when he was (slightly) willing. He was walked to the back of a van, and he hoped that he'd be able to break his chains once he got in. He was, after all, pretty huge, and though the shackles were large and covered his arms as well, he had faith he'd be able to break out of them.

The back door of the van opened, and he stepped inside, glaring at them all as he did so. He was surprised to see three other people in the van. A beautiful woman that he swore he'd seen before, maybe in a magazine or something, a man with spikey black hair and an even younger man that was completely green. The entire van sank down slightly as Victor chose a place to sit, and he gave them a sheepish smile, though inside he was slightly proud that he'd found a way to slow them down. "Sorry."

…

She had a dark jacket on, with the hood pulled up over her face, but it didn't matter. She'd made eye contact with one of them, one who she remembered from her childhood, and then the chase was on. She ran past people in the streets, ignoring their cries of protest as the barreled past them. Drunk people were catcalling (soon on the ground as she knocked into them accidentally) but she was still pursued.

She could feel her heart beating in rhythm with her feet – in other words, very quickly. She jumped over trashcans and skidded down an alleyway that was covered with slippery puddles from the previous evening rain. One of the puddles caused her to fall over, but she was back on her feet in an instant, ignoring the pain in her knees that she had fallen on. There were shouts behind her – no doubt the soldiers from Pinehearst – but she continued on. She couldn't let them get her. She just couldn't!

She almost crashed straight into a wall, and cursed in her mind, not having the time or courage to say it out loud. Dead end.

"There!" she heard the shout from behind her, and she whipped around. They were gaining on her. She glanced over at one of the fallen trashcans, then up at the roof. She would be able to make it… the voices were closer now. She had no choice.

She jumped onto the lid of the trashcan, almost falling off of it due to the droplets of rain that hadn't dried off yet, and jumped straight onto the roof of one of the houses. She didn't have time to look at what was happening, but she could see the bright flashing lights from the corner of her eye and hear the sirens. She jumped from rooftop to rooftop, until the inevitable happened – a shingle on one of the rooftops tore off as her foot touched it, bringing her along with a few other shingles falling down to the ground. She landed hard on her side, and let out a grunt as the wind was knocked out of her. She was barely down five seconds until she heard the sirens again, and jumped back up, racing away. _They can't have me, I can't let them know what I am!_

She whipped around the corner, only to jump back with a startled cry as a bullet tore a hole through her hood. If she hadn't already been in the process of moving the bullet would have pierced her cheek, and wouldn't that be painful?

She jumped straight ahead and crashed into two people, not stopping to say sorry, only thankful that the street seemed to be crowded. It would be harder for them to find her. At least, she would have been thankful if at that moment a van hadn't pulled up, with the words "Pinehearst" printed on the side. She practically flew towards an alleyway she was running so quickly, and ran around the corner… there. She stopped instinctively. She'd caught sight of him.

She wanted to yell, scream, use her powers until he was nothing more than ashes on the ground, but she wouldn't give him the pleasure. She knew that he was expecting her to turn, which is why she did the exact opposite. She jumped on top of the van with the help of her powers (though she didn't use them completely yet, she didn't want anyone to get hurt) and heard a couple of curses and exclamation's coming from inside of it as she landed hard on it. She jumped back off of it on the opposite end, ignoring whatever had just happened and whoever was in there, and took off back towards the alleyways. They couldn't keep this chase up forever, they knew it and she knew it.

Before she had time to comprehend what was happening as she burst onto another street, she crashed straight into someone – an unpleasant someone. Arthur Light – formerly a doctor – was glaring at her, two cronies by his side. She hesitated, knowing that this wasn't going to be good. They'd had a bit of a fall out earlier that same day and she knew he wanted to get revenge on what had happened, even though she hadn't been the cause of it. _Damn powers. _

There were no words needed, just the hostility in his gaze alerted her to the fact that he was about to take a swing. She grabbed his wrist as he brought it towards her, shot under his arm, and pushed him forward, causing him to fall to the ground. There were cries of outrage, and then thundering steps. She mentally cursed, now they along with Pinehearst were after her. What more could go wrong?

She couldn't breathe anymore, she couldn't keep this up. She needed to get somewhere safe. She was shaking from exhaustion, and the adrenaline was starting to leave her. She would have collapsed if it hadn't been for her strong will – plus the sight of an abandoned werehouse in front of her. She couldn't have asked for a better miracle as she kicked the door aside and raced inside, plastering herself on a wall while trying to get her breath back.

Her breathing had just returned to normal when she froze, hearing the loud obnoxious voices of a drunk Arthur Light and his cronies just outside. They'd found her, which meant it was only a matter of time before Pinehearst found her too.

She quickly backed up, slinking past huge and heavy boxes that were piled high all around. It was no use. Light may be drunk, but he wasn't stupid. She was soon staring at his smiling face, but she didn't move. She knew how to defend herself, but she didn't _want _to hurt him at the current moment… before she could so much as open her mouth he gave a mighty shove and she was pushed back, only to be caught by two of his cronies that she hadn't noticed snuck in with her. They threw her up against a wall, and she would have sunk to the floor if a fist hadn't forced its way onto her stomach, keeping her upright as she tried to get back the breath that had fled from her lungs at the blow. It was right where she had fallen off that rooftop.

"Please…" she said, taking a deep gulp, "don't do this."

She received a sharp slap on the face, and she tried bucking away, but the cronies still had her pinned against the wall. It was only a matter of time before Pinehearst found them and killed them _all. _

"What? No fight?" Light laughed in her face, "Try those fancy moves again. I dare you."

She was lifted from the wall and then shoved against it so hard she let out a slight cry of pain, but she quickly bit her lip to hide it. "Stop. Please… you don't understand what's happening! I don't want to hurt you!"

"You? Hurt me?" Light looked as though he were about to go into hysterics. "I think you should be more concerned about yourself, because that pretty face of yours is going to be getting a makeover once we're done with you."

She caught sight of a shadow behind him and started struggling even more, knowing that the soldiers had found them. "Let me go! You have to let me go, _now!"_

"Right. Let her have it," Light commanded the crony to his left, who punched her deep in the stomach, causing her to let out another grunt of pain. She could feel herself shaking, she could feel that… _side… _of her starting to take over, trying to desperately break free. She shut her eyes, thinking of all the destruction that it had already caused, and when she opened them the crony on Light's right side fell to the ground, dead, as a bullet pierced him. Light didn't notice this.

"_No…." _her voice trailed off, and she shut her eyes again, trying to hold in the power that was longing to burst forth and protect herself, even if it meant destroying the whole town. When she opened them this time, they were glowing white. Even Light couldn't ignore this sudden change. "What -?"

Before he could react a seemingly invisible – no, not invisible, black – force hit him square in the chest and he went flying backwards. She delivered a swift kick to the idiot that was still holding her up against the wall and raced behind some more boxes, trying to keep the power contained.

There were more bullets piercing the spot she'd been in before, and she tried to stop her shaking. Light seemed to recover, and he jumped behind the box, not caring who was shooting the bullets – perhaps he thought he was imagining it. He grabbed her by the collar, intent on giving her a nice black eye, but the girl grabbed onto his arms, her eyes glowing white. Light let out a scream as he was thrown away from her, through the wall of the werehouse. The girl let out a loud bellow of rage as bullets began to pierce where Light was thrown. She fled from behind the box, trying to find the exit to the werehouse before she did any more damage. There were no bullets this time, but there was also no exit to be found. She let out a groan of frustration and hid behind one of the larger boxes, seeing a soldier from the side. He spotted her and let out a wicked grin, raising his gun to shoot straight between the eyes –

With another bellow of rage she reached her hands out towards him, though he was at least twenty feet away. This didn't matter, despite what the man believed, until black shadowy arms threw themselves at him and grabbed his body tight. It's movements, the elongated arms, seemed to bend to the girl's will as she raised her own arms and (as though she were holding him with her actual arms) threw him far where he landed on the ceiling before falling to the ground with a sickening crunch.

"Don't let her out of the werehouse!" she heard, and tightened her hands as the black shadowy arms flew back into her body. She glared around, her eyes still glowing white, and lifted her hands, which were surrounded by a black aura. There were at least fourteen soldiers running towards her, and she shot black beams at them. Five fell, but the rest had either dodged or weren't hit at all. She turned her gaze to the largest and heaviest box in there, which became cast in the same dark aura that was glowing around her hands. Without a warning the whole thing flew towards the soldiers, knocking every single one of them off of their feet.

"STOP!"

Her eyes returned to their normal color at the sound of the voice, and she turned slowly to see who had shouted. It was him alright.

"Rachel…" his voice, smooth as ever, drifted inside of the werehouse. A white van was parked outside, the same van she had jumped on top of. He had white hair and half of his face was covered by shadows. "Come with us."

"No," she said, her voice cracking. Her hold on her power was slipping away though, along with the adrenaline, to be replaced by fear. "I won't! It wasn't me! I swear it!"

"Rachel –"

"It was my father!" she yelled, "I never wanted this to happen! Why are you doing this to me? Why can't you just leave me alone! _YOU _leave me alone!"

"Now, Rachel, your father only wants what's best for –"

"My father doesn't give a damn about me and you know that!" she screamed, the anger returning to her. Soldiers all around her lifted their guns, but the man in front of her lifted a hand and they slowly lowered the guns. Except for one. He could see how quickly she was losing control, and he wasn't about to let her harm any more men.

"Come with us, or we'll make you! It's the easy way or the hard way, and you won't like the hard way!"

"The easy way," she growled, her eyes glowing white, "_IS _the hard way. If you don't stay away from me, I will kill you all." It wasn't a suggestion, it was a warning. "I don't want to do that."

The man smirked, "Oh Raven, I already know that you can't hurt me, and you know it to."

The black aura had returned to her hands now, and her face was contorted with rage. She raised a hand to aim it at the man –

And the soldier shot. His aim was true. If her senses had not picked up on the sound of the bullet at the last minute, and she hadn't raised huge black shields, she would have been dead. She let out a terrible scream, even the soldiers – trained to remain stoic faced – looked both worried and frightened for their lives. Inside the black shield light rays started to shine out of it, where the girl would have been. She was still yelling a terrible yell, and just when the soldier thought it would last forever, it stopped. It stopped so abruptly it was like she hadn't even screamed. It was a scream of pure agony, and also pure rage, as though she hadn't been sure what to act on.

The black shield and white lights had vanished completely, and the body of Rachel Roth lay on the ground, unconscious. She looked a lot more peaceful unconscious then she did conscious.

The man's smirk had turned wide now, and he walked forward to bend down next to her. His soldiers quickly ran down beside them.

"Get the special shackles for this one," the man said, and the soldier next to him nodded before giving a salute. "Yes, Mister Wilson, sir!" Then he ran off, but "Mister" Wilson was still smiling down at the girl's unconscious body. "It was about time we met again," he murmured, crouching down next to her to push back a lock of her violet colored hair. "I've missed you, Raven."

"I have the shackles sir!" said the man, coming back with what looked like a wisp of white glowing rope. Wilson nodded and allowed the soldier to put the shackles on her, her unconscious body seizing up as he did so, as though she knew what they were doing to her and she was desperate to stop it.

She was then picked up, very light for someone who had so much power, and thrown into the van with the other meta-humans, who looked shell-shocked at what they'd heard.

…

Dick wasn't sure whether to approach the unconscious girl or not. Her shackles were lighting up the darkness of the van, and for the first time he could see everyone clearly. The dark man who had introduced himself as Victor "Call me Vic" Stone's metallic side of his body was gleaming in the light. He had one red, cybernetic eye and one normal, chocolate brown one. Garfield's whole body appeared to be green, and despite the charming demeanor, Dick could tell he was scared. Kory's eyes seemed to be an even brighter shade of green then before, and her flaming hair was practically glowing due to the odd light from the girl's shackles. The girl had a bruise on her cheek and probably had a lot more under the clothing she was wearing, and a hole in her hood that suggested she'd been shot at and it missed by inches.

They were all shaken. This girl had almost wiped out every single one of the soldiers, and Dick had heard her… talking about her father, pleading with them, and then finally that terrible scream that had frozen them all. Either she was dying, or everybody else was dying, because a huge glow had formed in the crack of the van, almost blinding them. They were sure that at least one person had died.

Here she was, wearing skin-tight black pants and a dark hoodie, a normal looking girl. Nothing like what he'd heard from outside the van. Garfield was the first to approach her, though he hesitated slightly before placing a hand on her shoulder. She jerked and he quickly took his hands away, but other than that she didn't stir.

"Rachel Roth," the trio of males looked up, startled at Kory's sudden exclamation. "I've heard of her before…" she swallowed, looking at them all with sad eyes. "It was she who they had first started hunting, during the purge…"

"…so, she started it?" asked Victor in amazement, staring down at her.

"No," it was Garfield. "It wasn't her fault, she was just the first they hunted after witnessing her power. It's amazing that she survived this long though…"

They all stared down at the unconscious form again, each lost in their own thoughts, all wondering what would happen when she woke up… or if she would wake up. "Do you think we can wake her?"

"That sounded like one serious burst of power, dude," said Garfield, frowning, "I don't think she'll be waking up for a while. Besides, think of what she might _do _to us! You heard her on top of the van as well as the rest of us, she didn't even know that we're the good guys."

"I think that's what her shackles are meant for," said Kory quietly. "She won't be able to use her powers as long as she's wearing those."

"Well, we could always try," said Victor with a shrug, then he knelt gently beside the girl. "Rachel? Rachel can you wake up?"

"Dudes, that guy said her name was Raven. Don't you remember?"

"But he said her name was Rachel first," pointed out Kory, but Garfield shook his head. "Maybe it's like some alter ego or different name or something. Let me try," he bent down beside Rachel and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Raven?"

The effect was instantaneous. They all flinched away as she jumped up, eyes wide and breathing quick. "It's okay, we're not gonna hurt you," said Victor, having been the only one not to flinch back. Dick felt slightly ashamed at this – she was only a girl. Granted, she was a girl with incredible powers, but that didn't necessarily mean that she was dangerous to him.

Rachel – Raven – whoever, stared at him, blinking violet eyes. Dick had never seen violet eyes before, but this girl had them. She looked around at all of them suspiciously, and attempted to stand, only to fall back down with a hiss of pain. "Ow!"

"Are you okay?" asked Dick, going to kneel beside her next to Victor. "What's your name?"

"Fine… I just got a little hurt," she said, talking through clenched teeth, as though holding back a scream. "I'm Rachel Roth."

"That guy said your name was Raven –" Garfield started, but Rachel whipped around to glare at him. "I don't care what _he_ says! Don't call me Raven!"

"Okay okay, chill out," said Garfield, raising his hands in a sign of surrender. She glared at him for a moment, before lowering her eyes. "I'm sorry, it's just… I moved on from that name the moment that –" she stopped speaking and didn't continue, instead staring down at the ground as though she hadn't meant to say anything at all.

They all exchanged looks at this, wanting to know how she was going to continue that sentence, but she didn't look like she was going to open up to them any time soon.

"So… what can you do?" asked Garfield, and Dick almost winced. Rachel stared at him, as though she couldn't quite believe he had just asked that, and looked away. "I can do a lot of things," she answered evasively, not looking at any of them.

"Dude, you did some serious ass-kicking back there –" Dick wanted to slap a hand over Garfield's mouth, but his arms were shackled together, so it was ultimately impossible.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said firmly.

"But –" started Garfield, who shrunk back at her glare. "I _said _I _don't _want to talk about it!"

There was a tense silence, only broken by a muttered "sorry" from Garfield. Rachel nodded her head, but didn't speak. She didn't need to. Her meaning was clear enough – she forgave him… this time.

The ride was a lot different now that Rachel was in the van. Things had seemed a lot more lighthearted – even if it was forced – before Rachel came along. Now everyone was tense, even though she wasn't looking at any of them and refused to utter another word even when they tried getting her to talk (this was mostly Kory).

Needless to say, the rest of the ride to Pinehearst wasn't a pleasant one.

**Wow, long chapter much? How do you guys like? Toss or keep? Please drop a review. I'll give you all virtual cookies if you do ;) **


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